A Welsh child abuse survivor believes sex crimes being probed by a New Zealand judge extend into the distant past.

Stephen Fong, 50, from Wrexham, made the comments following an announcement by Justice Lowell Goddard that her inquiry into child sex abuse could examine crimes committed since 1945 and may go back still further.

John Allen

Hotelier Allen, 73, is serving life for sexually abusing 19 children who lived in his string of care homes.

John Allen leaves Mold crown court after being sentenced to life (Image: Julian Hamilton/Daily Mirror)

Gym-owner Mr Fong, who said he was physically rather than sexually abused by Allen, said: “We’ve been doing our own research (as survivors) over the last few years and we believe it goes a lot further and a lot higher than what Joe Public has believed. The history of it - I reckon it goes back hundreds of years.”

Home Secretary Theresa May recruited Justice Goddard after two other senior figures had to step down over their establishment links.

It had been thought that the probe would focus on allegations of illegal activity after 1970.

But Justice Goddard told the Mail on Sunday the period was “elastic”.

'I don't feel intimidated'

“The terms of reference talk about going back to 1970 but there is a push from certain quarters to take it back to about 1945,” she said.

“A cut-off point is always a bit artificial - someone who falls on the wrong side of it is aggrieved.”

According to the newspaper, Mrs May supports the judge’s position and is ready to remove all time limits.

But Justice Goddard plans to issue a series of interim reports to avoid a repeat of the controversy over the Chilcot Inquiry into the Iraq War, which has been held up for six years.

The 66-year-old said she “wouldn’t shrink” from summoning prominent people to give evidence.

She said: “I don’t feel intimidated. Nobody should be beyond the reach of the law.

“Sexual abuse of little children has never been anything short of a serious crime and that does not alter through religious or cultural mores or a different era or time.